This invention relates generally to the art of motorcycles and, more particularly, it relates to the art of accessories for enhancing the effectiveness of motorcycle side, "kick", stands.
The ineffectiveness of side, "kick", stands for heavy motorcycles on soft terrain, such as mud, sand, soft asphalt, and the like, has long been recognized and, in fact, a number of suggestions have been made to improve the effectiveness of such side stands. Most prior-art suggestions for improving the effectiveness of side stands have involved placing a plate under a side stand to increase the surface area on which the side stand acts. Such suggestions are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,521,031 to Huth, 4,474,387 to Maranell et al., 3,955,829 to Bussler, 3,970,330 to Norcross, 3,712,640 to Shipman et al., and 3,998,470 to Houston. However, all of the devices described in these patents have serious shortcomings which have prevented the devices from coming into more widespread use. For example, pads such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,521,031 to Huth and 4,474,387 to Maranell et al. are often forgotten and left on the ground when a motorcycle operator drives away. Thus, the motorcycle operator encounters an expense in obtaining the pad, but the pad is quickly thereafter lost.
There are a number of prior-art pads which attach to the ends of the side stands themselves, such as are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,829 to Bussler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,330 to Norcross, U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,640 to Shipman et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,470 to Houston. However, the pads of these devices are also often overlooked by operators when they start the motorcycles and they are sometime then vibrated loose from the side stands and lost and/or their relatively large sizes get in the way of operators and/or operating parts of the motorcycles.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a motorcycle side-stand accessory for enhancing the effectiveness of a motorcycle side stand on soft terrain but yet which is not easily lost and does not impede a motorcycle operator or the operation of other motorcycle parts.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a motorcycle side-stand accessory which is safe in operation, effective in use, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such a motorcycle side-stand accessory which can also be used for locking a motorcycle to thereby prevent theft.